EAT! Vancouver has raised its ticket prices again -- and for $15 (plus the cost of food tickets), you'll want to maximize your experience.
The best advice I can give is to volunteer for the event: in addition to that warm, fuzzy feeling you'll get from giving back to your community, you'll also receive two complimentary tickets to the event. :)
If volunteering won't fit into your schedule, here are my suggestions for making the most of your EAT! experience:
1. Before the event even begins, buy your ticket online -- it's cheaper ($3 less this year).
2. Come early. By mid-noon, the whole stadium becomes packed and stays packed. If you arrive when it opens, you won't have to waste time in lines. You'll also be guaranteed to get a goodie bag that way (this year it contained a bag of nacho chips and Mott's Clamato juice). I know from an inside source that there were around 20,000 bags to give away and over 30,000 people in attendance. You do the math.
3. Stay late. At the end of the day, exhibitors need to get rid of their perishable goods -- and that's when the prices get slashed. I don't know if this is limited to Sunday, since it's the last day of EAT!, but I got a jambalaya, samosa, mango juice, and papadam for free, mango lemonade for 50 cents, chocolates from Schokolade Artisan Chocolate & Cafe for 50 cents apiece, and other great deals.
4. If you don't want to stay the entire day but want in on the great deals at the end, you can just leave and come back. Be sure to get your hand stamped on your way out -- you'll need to show the stamp to be re-admitted.
5. Circle the place more than once (make return visits to various vendors) -- some change their samples throughout the day, and you could be missing out on some great stuff.
6. Watch some of the stage shows and cooking competitions. Among the many chefs that come, Rob Feenie (formerly of Lumiere and Feenie's, and now the concept artist for Cactus Club Café), is a mainstay of EAT! and is guaranteed to make an appearance. This year, Tojo (inventor of the California roll and owner of Vancouver's best sushi restaurant, Tojo's) also came to talk about 21st Century Seasonings at the International Culinary Stage. Black box cooking competitions -- where chefs are given a box of mystery ingredients to work with to create something magnificent -- are particularly interesting.
7. Try to squeeze in a cheese seminar. You get to try a plate of seven different cheeses (including award-winning, hard-to-get varieties), learn about the qualities to look for in a good cheese (including appearance, smell, texture, and taste), and take home a bunch of cheese-related swag. Unless you're lactose-intolerant, this seminar is not to missed, but fills up super-quickly, so check the schedule and line up 20 minutes early. This was the highlight of my day.
13. Look for coupons. The 55 cent-off coupons Kozy Shack has every year help satisfy my yearly pudding cravings, and some of the other savings to be had are not bad.
14. Even if they're not advertising samples, ask if you can try their food anyway. The kiwi juice guy was giving samples of the drink away for free -- if you asked -- even though they were advertised as being one ticket per sample.
15. Skim the website quickly before you go and make note of offerings on your must-see/do list. Plan your day and schedule accordingly.
16. Drink less. I'm not talking about your alcohol consumption (though this can apply to that too). At drink stations where vendors pour samples in front of you, ask for half-portions. I think I personally ended up drinking more than I ate, and in addition to filling you up, these samples can cost you time making washroom trips (and waiting in spilling-out-the-exit-door washroom lines).
17. Look at what other people are eating. If you see them snacking on a dish or sample that looks appealing, ask them where they got it (both the location and vendor, if they can remember).
18. If you have a pet, or know someone who owns one, be sure to grab a few pet food samples. (Rosanne -- I have some premium dog food for Timmy, if you want it!)
19. Bargain with vendors. It works, at least later in the day on Sunday. You could try earlier too. People are pretty nice about helping you spend that last ticket.
20. Talk to the vendors you especially like and find out more about their products. Listen to what they have to say. This is your chance to discover some cool new foods and food spots you might otherwise never have heard about.
21. Lunch/dine there. You can easily fill up on samples alone, but the prices of the food available for purchase are quite reasonable as well, for the most part ranging from 2 to 8 tickets ($1 to $4). I only found one item that cost one ticket -- a sample of birch sap toffee (which I purchased and found tastes pretty much like regular English toffee).
So there you have it. The next time EAT! rolls around, you'll tackle it like a pro.
Happy EATing! :)
The best advice I can give is to volunteer for the event: in addition to that warm, fuzzy feeling you'll get from giving back to your community, you'll also receive two complimentary tickets to the event. :)
If volunteering won't fit into your schedule, here are my suggestions for making the most of your EAT! experience:
1. Before the event even begins, buy your ticket online -- it's cheaper ($3 less this year).
2. Come early. By mid-noon, the whole stadium becomes packed and stays packed. If you arrive when it opens, you won't have to waste time in lines. You'll also be guaranteed to get a goodie bag that way (this year it contained a bag of nacho chips and Mott's Clamato juice). I know from an inside source that there were around 20,000 bags to give away and over 30,000 people in attendance. You do the math.
3. Stay late. At the end of the day, exhibitors need to get rid of their perishable goods -- and that's when the prices get slashed. I don't know if this is limited to Sunday, since it's the last day of EAT!, but I got a jambalaya, samosa, mango juice, and papadam for free, mango lemonade for 50 cents, chocolates from Schokolade Artisan Chocolate & Cafe for 50 cents apiece, and other great deals.
4. If you don't want to stay the entire day but want in on the great deals at the end, you can just leave and come back. Be sure to get your hand stamped on your way out -- you'll need to show the stamp to be re-admitted.
5. Circle the place more than once (make return visits to various vendors) -- some change their samples throughout the day, and you could be missing out on some great stuff.
6. Watch some of the stage shows and cooking competitions. Among the many chefs that come, Rob Feenie (formerly of Lumiere and Feenie's, and now the concept artist for Cactus Club Café), is a mainstay of EAT! and is guaranteed to make an appearance. This year, Tojo (inventor of the California roll and owner of Vancouver's best sushi restaurant, Tojo's) also came to talk about 21st Century Seasonings at the International Culinary Stage. Black box cooking competitions -- where chefs are given a box of mystery ingredients to work with to create something magnificent -- are particularly interesting.
7. Try to squeeze in a cheese seminar. You get to try a plate of seven different cheeses (including award-winning, hard-to-get varieties), learn about the qualities to look for in a good cheese (including appearance, smell, texture, and taste), and take home a bunch of cheese-related swag. Unless you're lactose-intolerant, this seminar is not to missed, but fills up super-quickly, so check the schedule and line up 20 minutes early. This was the highlight of my day.
8. Check out non-food related booths. Some have neat stuff available, from free info books and magazines to chances to enter draws for cruises and more.
9. On that note, pick up a copy of Vancouver Magazine and Western Living Magazine -- their booths are side by side. VanMag retails for $5.99, so there's half the price of your (online) ticket right there. You also get to enter a draw for a cruise if you to put your name on their list to receive more info on the mag. The copy they distribute is their coveted Restaurant Awards edition -- a guide you can hang on to and refer to for the rest of the year, when you want to find out where Vancouver's upper class prefer to dine.
10. Bring a friend, or two or three. You can split your samples so you can try more and save space in your stomach.11. Bag the non-perishable samples for later (e.g. tuck away those free full bottles of Fuze and packaged almond clusters). They'll taste just as good later. Vendors are, however, getting smarter and opening their packages as they hand them out, to ensure that you eat them there and then.
12. Wait to purchase your food tickets, or start with only a sheet or half-sheet. You can always buy more, and you don't want to be stuck scrambling to use them up at the end of the day like I did.13. Look for coupons. The 55 cent-off coupons Kozy Shack has every year help satisfy my yearly pudding cravings, and some of the other savings to be had are not bad.
14. Even if they're not advertising samples, ask if you can try their food anyway. The kiwi juice guy was giving samples of the drink away for free -- if you asked -- even though they were advertised as being one ticket per sample.
15. Skim the website quickly before you go and make note of offerings on your must-see/do list. Plan your day and schedule accordingly.
16. Drink less. I'm not talking about your alcohol consumption (though this can apply to that too). At drink stations where vendors pour samples in front of you, ask for half-portions. I think I personally ended up drinking more than I ate, and in addition to filling you up, these samples can cost you time making washroom trips (and waiting in spilling-out-the-exit-door washroom lines).
17. Look at what other people are eating. If you see them snacking on a dish or sample that looks appealing, ask them where they got it (both the location and vendor, if they can remember).
18. If you have a pet, or know someone who owns one, be sure to grab a few pet food samples. (Rosanne -- I have some premium dog food for Timmy, if you want it!)
19. Bargain with vendors. It works, at least later in the day on Sunday. You could try earlier too. People are pretty nice about helping you spend that last ticket.
20. Talk to the vendors you especially like and find out more about their products. Listen to what they have to say. This is your chance to discover some cool new foods and food spots you might otherwise never have heard about.
21. Lunch/dine there. You can easily fill up on samples alone, but the prices of the food available for purchase are quite reasonable as well, for the most part ranging from 2 to 8 tickets ($1 to $4). I only found one item that cost one ticket -- a sample of birch sap toffee (which I purchased and found tastes pretty much like regular English toffee).
So there you have it. The next time EAT! rolls around, you'll tackle it like a pro.
Happy EATing! :)
We must go together one year!
ReplyDeleteYes, we must. Will you be back in Van for good next year, and if not, when will you be returning? Sucks that I won't get to see you this summer. :(
ReplyDeleteActually I severely doubt that I'll be in Vancouver during May anytime soon. Probably after my PhD, haha... that'll take 4-5 years. But yeah, I just think going with you would be great cuz who else would go early then stay til closing?
ReplyDeleteI like tip #16. A sip is enough to sample the drink. They're usually not that great anyway.